Ear-bud type headphones as are known in the art typically have thin cables that are prone to tangling. This tangling causes difficulty and delay for the user, who must untangle the headphone cable prior to actual use of the headphone, or else risk damage to the headphone cable due to knots or sharp folding of the cable. Even so, such damage may occur during the process of untangling the headphone cable, if such untangling is not performed in a careful manner.
A flat ribbon-like cable provides advantages in that its structure is inherently more rigid and therefore less prone to tangling. Moreover, the larger cross-sectional area of a flat cable facilitates passage of multiple conductors in a side-by-side configuration, as shown in FIG. 2. This provides benefits in terms of lower overall cable impedance and faster transient response as compared to conventional headphone cabling. Moreover, the flat cable can accommodate added functionality such as conductors for a microphone.
Headphone cables typically have a unitary section, in which the left and right channel conductors are combined in a single cable segment, and split left and right sections that connect to each of the left and right ear pieces. During usage of a flat headphone cable, it is desirable to orient the headphone cable so that its unitary cable section lays flat against the user's body. However, it is also desirable to orient the left and right split sections of the cable so that they lay flat against the user's face. This requires that the widths of the unitary cable section and the split cable sections be oriented in a substantially perpendicular relationship. Therefore, there is a need for a flat headphone cable incorporating a splitter that facilitates orientation of the widths of the unitary and split portions of the headphone cable in a substantially perpendicular relationship.